Creativity and New Media

      Using new media tools, I created a avatar on an app called Pokemon GO. It allows you to catch Pokemon (cartoon characters) anywhere you go because the app uses your GPS system on your phone to pull up a map where you can see the Pokemon's near you that you can catch with your pokeballs ( balls used to catch Pokemon). This game allows you to live in a virtual world filled with numerous cartoon characters. It isn't a game where you can sit at home all day and play, this requires you to go outside and catch the different characters. This was a smart development of the creators because it motivates people to go outside and exercise while actually have fun. I enjoy playing this game because it is exciting to catch new Pokemon in different places. You can go on long walks with friends and play this wonderful game at the same time for enjoyment. Additionally, you can interact with other Pokemon trainers as well by battling them at gyms where you can become a gym leader!

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Creativity

      New media fosters creativity because it allows people to connect with each other from all over the world. This way everyone is able to share ideas and thoughts with each other. It has become a huge resource that many utilize and proves to be beneficial to businesses, since new media is a huge advertising platform. In the article, "Disney tolerates a Rap Parody of its critters.But Why?," the author mentions that, "Nickelodeon , part of Viacom, sees the humorous videos as fair usage of their copy righted content." This displays how new media enabled users to share their ideas through YouTube easily by spreading their own content. Sometimes people come up with creative content by twisting original content or creating a parody video for the audiences enjoyment.  Some companies appreciate this because the video gets a lot of views and thus the original content becomes more popular. People start recognizing the company and creative content more. On the other hand, some companies may have issues with others developing ideas from their work and can lead to copy right issues. Overall, the development of new media has definitely allowed the world to spread their creative ideas instantly and foster innovation.


References:

Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why? The New York Times, September 24, 2007



 

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

       Virtual worlds can be used in many ways such as in online gaming, teaching, and developing cost effective ways of products and services in various businesses. In online gaming, it provides a space where one can take a break from reality and enjoy themselves in a world where they can change their identity. Online players enjoy the virtual world because it is a fantasy that you are in control of. The virtual world can also be used for education purposes such as teaching medical students how to perform medical procedures or teaching students in a classroom how to carry out an activity. Additionally. it can provide business benefits in that the virtual world can be used to give virtual tours of a business, a 360 view of a product, and it can be used to train employees easily. The pros of the virtual world are that it gives users a chance to build new experiences through their online gaming, many people can be educated at once regarding a medical procedure for more efficiency, and businesses can excel in building virtual prototypes to further develop goods and services. Some cons are that this resource is time consuming, it can be hard to put all aspects of the real world into an online system, and the virtual world can become addicting for online users that play games. Other disadvantages are that developers can face challenges when building the virtual technology such as lag time and lack sharpness of thought, vision, or hearing.
      In the article, "Avatar II: The Hospital", Stephanie Simon mentions, "In addition to disaster drills, Second life is increasingly being used to train medical and nursing students in clinical skills." This shows the advantages of virtual reality in that it aids many students in having a visual learning experience. The virtual world allows for many students to learn at once which is cost effective. In another article, "I've Been in that Club, Just Not in Real Life" , Itzkoff says, "The result is an experience that feels like a mash-up of Facebook and Grand Theft Auto, with a dash of the indie-rock Web site Pitchfork thrown in for good measure." The author expresses that the virtual world gives you an experience like never before in that you can do anything and explore the online world without having to go outside to the actual places shown online. For example, you can visit a place you never went to in the virtual world and it can persuade you to actually go there in real life.
      On the other hand, virtual worlds can foster creativity in that it can lead to innovation of products. As mentioned before, many companies use this system to build prototypes so it can help in the creation of better products and services for customers. In the future, virtual worlds will probably engulf the world ,since technology is advancing day by day. More and more education systems and businesses will use it to enhance learning experiences.    


References:

"Avatar II: The Hospital" by Stephanie Simon, The Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2010

"I've Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life" by Dave Itzkoff, The New York Times, January 6, 2008

Blog: Social networking sites

      Everyone seems to have a social media account today in order to stay updated on news or to share a part of their life with close friends and family. Some of the most popular websites used are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I use all of these accounts to know what's going on in the world and to connect with relatives or friends. Facebook is the website I use all the time because I enjoy looking through my Newsfeed and discovering things that are occurring around us. Facebook gives you notifications, has Facebook Live, and has great privacy settings which I enjoy. Facebook is organized and allows you to personalize your account to your interests. My first impression of Twitter is great in that it is a easy way to communicate with others around the world. With its 140 character limit, I can tweet out simplistic thoughts and get replies fast. Additionally, it's nice seeing what everyone has to say on a subject and you can easily search a specific subject by entering the hashtag in the search tool. Pinterest is a social networking site I use mostly for visual content. I find it a useful resource to search up images related to a specific subject. For example, if I am trying to find party decoration ideas, I just log into the website and search it and I get various results. This helps me out a lot because Pinterest has a lot of unique images and ideas on its homepage. Lastly, I use Instagram to express myself to close friends and family. I use it as a medium to connect with others and share a part of my life and interests. This website is great in that you can do Instagram live and chat with others in real time. All in all, all of these websites allows us to network, build links, and share parts of our lives with others. Today, social networking sites are important because it is a place where one can spread awareness and help others in need. Online communication is key if you want to stay updated on events.

Blog about Twitter

     Twitter has become a growing platform in social media where users are able to share their opinions and thoughts easily. A Twitter discussion is a instant conversation between people. If you have the app on your phone, you can receive notifications of things tweeted and discuss them with your followers instantly. This online platform has a limitation of 140 characters, which lets others post their thoughts in a simplistic way. On the other hand, a BlackBoard Discussion is less convenient because you have to login to the website and check the thread numerous times, since you don't receive notifications when someone replies to your post. So this makes BlackBoard less interactive than twitter. A benefit of Blackboard is that you can create long posts and have no limitations. An in-class discussion allows a discussion to flow among the audience easily , since everyone is in the classroom and is listening at the time. Classroom discussions have a limited audience while twitter has a larger audience , which includes people from all over the world. Overall, Twitter is a great resource to use to express and display thoughts to the world and receive feedback.

Blog Social networking

      Social technology has been very beneficial to our society because it has provided a way for everyone to connect with one another. Having this online method of connecting allows you to interact with people from all around the world instantly. For example, you may have businesses in different parts of the world and in order for you to manage them you will have to utilize social technology to contact your staff. Also, social technology allows everyone to share news and it spreads around society very quickly which aids in bringing awareness on a subject. An example would be sharing news on horrible policies enacted by Trump on Facebook. However, there is a dark side to social technology in that it is time consuming and people tend to stare at their phones all day and have less interaction with others. Social media has had a negative impact in that people tend to have less face to face interactions and instead just like scrolling through their social media accounts all day.

     Technology can be used in the corporate world in that it can lead to a easier hiring process. In the article , "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting," Langfitt mentions, "LinkedIn says users include executives from all of the Fortune 500 companies. Typing keywords into a search engine, Crawford can scrape the entire network to dig out high- quality candidates that she can't find elsewhere.", This shows that social technology is very beneficial in selection and recruiting of employees because it can easily filter through hundreds of applicants. Additionally, social networking can be used to further enhance customer service. Corporate companies can use technology to get feedback from customers and make improvements that they specify.

    The online world has evolved greatly overtime. In the article, "Brave New World of Digital Intimacy," the author says, "News Feed is central to Facebook's success." This displays how Facebook has advanced its social media by upgrading its system so that users can personalize what they view on their News Feed. Overall, these social technologies are advancing very quickly and in the future we may have technology that allows us to view others on social media in real time. For example Facebook has a feature called Facebook Live. Technology in the future may become even more personalized to attract more users.

References:

Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting by Frank Langfitt, NPR, March 16, 2008.

"Brave New World of Digital Intimacy " by Clive Thompson, NY Times, Sept 7, 2008

Blog v Wiki

      Blogs and wikis differ in various ways in that blogs are more individualized and wikis are a collaborative effort where others can edit a page. Both of these online resources capture the idea of using a online platform to display your thoughts to the public. Blogs are more personal and authors are in control of what regulates around his or her page. On the other hand, wikis are edited by anonymous people and so one page is edited by many users and its content lacks strict control. Both are similar because they are forms of expression that are available online for the public to see.

     According to Margaret Locher , wikis are very beneficial because it allows people to work together and so ideas and thoughts can be shared easily. She mentions that one should definitely create their own wiki to get processes done faster in companies. For example, a group of employees can use wikis to focus on a specific topic and collaborate with other co-workers to save time. Also, the founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, mentions that "Corporate wikis work best when management encourages everyone in the company to put forward ideas in good faith." This shows one of the disadvantages of wikis in that some companies may have management take over the content on the page and make final decisions on the content. Due to this, some employees may become discouraged to put out ideas. On the contrary, people who have blogs are free to express themselves without the fear of someone editing the content.

   In The New York Times article, "Wikipedia to Limit Changes to Articles on People," the author says that Wikipedia has made changes such as creating "flagged revisions" so that content can be approved before being displayed immediately on the site. This is very beneficial because it gives the website control and editors of the page can ensure that the information is correct. Overall, these articles support the idea that blogs and wikis are needed in the web to maintain a connection. This way everyone has a chance to display their thoughts and ideas. Blogs can be used for collaboration in that a person can post on a subject and others can comment on it. This allows the author to get responses and feedback to add more ideas to their page. Lastly, wiki can be used as a link between employees and customers, where customers can write their thoughts on a product and how it can be improved. Employees can then respond by making improvements to the product to increase customer satisfaction.

References:

• Wiki While You Work; The technology popularized by Wikipedia can help companies gather and manage their own collective knowledge. Here's how to get started by Margaret Locher. CIO, May 1, 2008. Vol. 21, Iss. 14.
• Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on making the most of company wikis. A Conversation with Jimmy Wales by Gardiner Morse. Harvard Business Review, April 2008. 
• "Wikipedia to Limit Changes to Articles on People" by Noam Cohen, The New York Times, August 24, 2009.